Nov. 13, 2011
MAUI COMES TO THE VERIZON CENTER!!
Following Saturday's 83-54 opening victory over Savannah State, the Hoyas open play in the EA Sports Maui Invitational Tournament this Monday night at 7:00 p.m. against the University of North Carolina - Greensboro. And you won't have to fly to Hawaii to be there so if family, your budget or other commitments prevent you from watching the Hoyas later this month in Lahaina, you can go to the Verizon Center. Then you can say that you went to the Maui Invitational, probably the longest running early season tournament in the country, without leaving the environs of DC! I am wondering if they'll be selling shave ice at Verizon (or if someone will be walking the corridors quietly saying to fans, "Want to buy some Maui Wowie!").
By catching the Maui Invitational Tournament in DC, however, you will miss having to get up at 3:30 a.m. to go see the "Sunrise at Haleakala Crater," at 5:30 a.m. or so, in my mind, one of the most magical mystical moments on God's green earth! You also won't get to drive the road to Hana, one of the world's most storied road trips, known for its narrowness, death-defying hair-pin turns and beautiful pools and waterfalls! But then again, driving in DC is no walk in the park either!!
For the first time, the Maui Invitational is broken down into Island teams and Mainland teams. Each of the Island teams, including Georgetown but not host school Chaminade, will play one home game against a Mainland team (in our case, UNC-Greensboro) before jetting off for the traditional Maui Invitational Tournament just prior to Thanksgiving! While the Island teams go to Maui, the Mainland teams will play their own two-day, four game event at Middle Tennessee State University.
Monday night's game will mark the first time that the Hoyas have ever faced the UNC-Greensboro Spartans. The two programs are similar in that they each play their home games in off-campus downtown arenas (Georgetown at Verizon Center and UNC-Greensboro at the Greensboro Coliseum). In an effort to upgrade his program, Spartan Coach Mike DeMent has increasingly scheduled more difficult teams in recent seasons. For example, last season the team faced several ACC teams and four teams from the NCAA's Sweet Sixteen, including Final Four participant, VCU. This year, the out-of-conference schedule, not including the Maui Invitational, includes games against Duke, Florida State, VCU, Richmond and Miami. The Spartans are coming off a 7-24 record in 2010-11, beginning with a 15-game losing streak before winning 7 of their remaining 16 games, including a victory over Davidson in the Southern Conference Tournament. They return four out of five starters and several key reserves from last year's team and are picked to finish fourth out of six in the Northern Division of the Southern Conference. The Spartans opened their season with a 92-63 loss to Tennessee on Friday in their opening Maui Invitational game.
After losing the core of last year's team with the graduation of Austin Freeman, Chris Wright and Julian Vaughn, Coach John Thompson III begins his eighth season with a roster including five freshmen and four sophomores. The trip to China did give Coach an opportunity to work his young team out earlier than the traditional October 15 starting date and they acquitted themselves well in all respects, in addition to gaining an incredible cultural experience. Expectations for this year's squad, however, are not as high as for some other recent teams, at least according to the pre-season pundits and Big East Coaches! Despite the musings of a Georgetown student journalist, I am confident, having watched JTIII since he arrived on the Hilltop from Princeton in 2004, that Coach Thompson and his team will "figure it out" over the course of the season and exceed expectations. For the Savannah State game, Coach started what many had projected as the starting line-up of Henry Sims at center, Nate Lubick at forward, Hollis Thompson at forward, Jason Clark at guard, and Markel Starks at point guard. Sims was dominating, scoring a career-high 19 points, six rebounds and five assists. Hopefully, this will portend a big senior season for the Baltimore big man. Such a breakout season would cause a serious reevaluation of the team's prospects for this year! Thompson garnered 13 points, four rebounds and four assists. Clark scored nine points and added two steals and two assists. Lubick scored eight points, grabbed five rebounds and notched a career-high five assists, demonstrating his aggressiveness and keen passing ability.
Coach substituted early and often and the reserves performed well, especially Otto Porter, who scored eight points and snared nine rebounds, and Greg Worthington, the All Met Player of the Year, who scored eight points and was very strong in the first half. Based on Kenner League play and the China trip, look for freshmen Porter, Worthington, and Jabril Trawick to play key roles this year as well. I believe that, despite the team's youth, Coach Thompson has a squad that can go 9-10 players deep if necessary and will be much more physical and active than some recent squads. At all events, this year's young team marks a generational changing of the guard in many ways, although Captain Jason Clark, Henry Sims and Hollis Thompson should be the floor leaders given their experience. I know from the Open Practice that Coach really likes this group of players and that they work extremely hard. I believe that, despite their relative youth, they will gel quickly and surprise many people. For Monday night, I believe that they will hit UNC-Greensboro with a "Maui-wowie" punch and come away with a convincing victory! And when they do get to Maui, I believe that they will do some damage, including defeating Kansas in their opening round game. See you at Verizon Monday night! Shave ice anyone!!
WE ARE GEORGETOWN!!
Respectfully submitted,
Michael Karam, F'72, L'76, L'81
Proud Member of Generation Laughna
